Catching Breath in Stale Air

Phase 1 (0-12 Hours)

The wet market is located a short walk from the wharf, and as with most of the surrounding area the smell of rotting fish permeates its wooden walls. Rows of stalls which used to display the fishmongers' wares line the interior, although they are now bare. The stalls themselves provide good cover, although at night visibility within the building drops considerably as there are no light sources aside from large windows. The floor here is perpetually slick with water as a result of an ancient ice machine finally breaking down for good. There are also many hooks protruding from the various walls and many crab and lobster pots hanging from the ceiling. Buckets and wooden carts are dotted around the area, no longer being needed to carry ice, water, or fish for the residents. Collections of buoys, ropes, lines, boots and hats can be found hanging on back walls or discarded behind stalls, left abandoned by the townspeople.
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Aura
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#46

Post by Aura »

Kassandra backed up a bit after their attacker dropped. She got down on one knee and stared them down, pipe laid cooly across her shoulder.

"So you wanna explain what you're doing here, or am I gonna have to hit you again?"
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#47

Post by Katie »

"Hold on babe I got this," Marion said, going over to Stan and pulling her handcuff chain around his neck. "Tell us what you're doing here or I throttle you."
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#48

Post by Sh4dE »

Feeling the wintry pendant around his neck, Stan's eye opened wide. He stuttered.

"Well, well, I. Well. I was."

No. He was not the victim. Astley don't show weakness. He asked back.

"Blah! What the hell were you doing in here?"

Stan emoted another sound of retching.
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#49

Post by Aura »

Damn, Marion could be pretty hardcore when she needed to be.  Kassandra couldn't help but give her a little nod of approval.

But that still didn't stop the fat asshole from trying to act like he was the one in charge.  Damn, you'd think some people would know when to give up.  Kass held up a hand, signaling for Marion to stay cool for now before she moved closer and continued her questioning of their wannabe assailant.

"Sorry, but we aren't the ones on trial here."  She circled her pipe in the air before returning it to its perch.  "So let me ask again, what are you doing?"
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#50

Post by Katie »

Marion tightened her grip around his net. "We were having a private conversation. Now answer her question, or is what you're doing here really so important that you're willing to take it to the grave?"
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#51

Post by Sh4dE »

Well, Stanley would love to answer the question, but the question was moronic.

What was Stanley doing? Huh, what was Stanley doing? What did Stan do while on the Program? Couldn't these baboons figure it out? Stan's face went annoyed with the naïviety of this abominable couple.

Stan was a man of words, but he did not need to speak to them what he was doing.

He would display it to them.

Despite feeling exhausted his whole body moved. His fists flying blindly hoping to hit them. His legs blindly kicking hoping to kick them.

It was like singing. Sometimes you think you have no breath left, but then you discover you had even more.
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#52

Post by Aura »

Shit, big boy was in a rage.  Rather than answering her question, he started thrashing around with Marion still on top of him.  Kassandra felt a her heart plunge when she realized that Marion was in danger again, and right after she had promised to protect her.

No.  No way was she letting this guy hurt her.  Kass lunged into the whirlwind of blind flailing and sloppy punches, feeling a few glancing blows and trying to ignore the effects as she grabbed Marion's arm to drag her out of the immediate attack radius.
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#53

Post by Katie »

"Hey I could have taken him!" Marion protested, but she relented anyway because they needn't fight each other when there was a big fat problem that needed dealing with. "At least kick his as twice as hard for me, okay?"
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#54

Post by Sh4dE »

He did it!

He got rid of them. He even felt some punches colliding against something, sometimes.

Euphorically, he stood up with a grin. Oh yes, Stan was strong.

He focussed all of his strength to aim a hard punch on Kass.
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#55

Post by Aura »

"Sorry."  Kass apologized on the fly.  "I know you could've taken him, but- fuck!"

Big guy was already back on his feet, and he was coming right for her.  She saw him raise his fist and was struck with a horrible feeling.  Maybe she should have just let Marion choke the guy out.  At least then she wouldn't have him bearing down on her like this.  To counter his attack, she swung her pipe one-handed as soon as he came close.

In the next moment, Kassandra felt two things.  The first was her pipe colliding with the big guy's head, and the second was his fist smashing into the side of her face hard enough to send her off-balance.
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#56

Post by Katie »

"Kass!" Marion yelled, and she quickly ran over and held out her arms to catch her.
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#57

Post by Aura »

Kassandra's held the side of her face in the aftermath of the big guy's unexpectedly powerful punch.  She felt like her entire jaw had been rattled by the blow, and considering how much pain she was in now, she was surprised that she wasn't spitting out teeth, or even knocked straight out.

She fell into the waiting arms of Marion, who did a surprisingly good job of catching her considering her wrists were still bound together.  She looked up and caught the biker girl's eye, and offered a small show of gratitude for the gesture.

"Thanks."
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#58

Post by Katie »

"Let's get you up," Marion said as she helped Kassandra to her feet. "Are you all right?"
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#59

Post by Aura »

Kassandra still felt a little jelly-legged from the hit, but with one arm around Marion's shoulders to help brace herself, she managed to get back on her feet.

"Don't worry."  She tried to reassure Marion as she stretched her jaw, although her visibly wincing from the pain didn't make her words entirely believable.  She was pretty sure that the fat guy must have lucked out and hit a nerve or something, largely because she didn't want to consider the possibility of an even worse injury.  "I've been in worse fights.  I'll be able to shake this off."  Damn, it even hurt a little to talk.  She had to start getting shorter and more direct with her words so she wouldn't aggravate it as much.

"But are you okay?  You were right on top of him when he started freaking out."
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#60

Post by Katie »

"Yeah I'm fine," Marion replied. "His blows didn't really have much aim to them when he was thrashing about like that. I didn't know you'd been in fights before though. Damn, I'm impressed."
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